Greater Leeds Area
Ben has 19 years’ experience in traffic signal engineering and intelligent transport systems, with a focus on UTC/UTMC systems and public transport priority. With a background in Software Engineering Ben has always been at the forefront of new ITS and UTMC technologies and has constantly been pushing new ideas and ways of controlling traffic and using data sources to their full potential. Ben has the proven ability to develop and deliver innovative and large technology projects with the involvement of multiple stakeholders. Large projects include installing the Edinburgh UTC tram priority system delivering tram journey time savings across their City Centre network as well as developing the hosted West & South Yorkshire bus priority system which shares AVL data across 7 UTMC systems. For the last 13 years Ben has been an independent consultant as BR Hallworth Ltd specialising in UTC systems, priority for buses/trams and special software projects. Ben works in both the public and private sector and has been able to form long-standing working relationships with several local authorities including Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Ben has a thorough grounding in all aspects of traffic signal design and control, gained from working in a local authority, including the design and commissioning of traffic signal junctions and traffic modelling. Key Skills • UTC/UTMC systems and their control and integration with other systems including within hosted environments. • Traffic network review/optimisation, traffic gating and targeting congestion hotspots with fixed time plan development, SCOOT and UTMC strategies. • Adaptive control with UTMC strategies, SAPS, SPRUCE, and bespoke software applications using traffic data and detection to make informed control decisions. • Traffic signal priority implementation for buses and trams at over 500 junctions with SCOOT/SPRUCE/MOVA priority. Proven experience and techniques in delivering significant journey time savings for buses and trams. • Extensive experience of central AVL bus priority systems and the integration of multiple UTC and bus operators’ systems. Including their specification, architecture, RTIG standards and operation practises. • Software development in C++, Python, Java and VB. • Database design, implementation, and management. Data exchange/manipulation with XML and JSON. • TR2500 controller configuration preparation and acceptance testing • Traffic signal modelling in Linsig, Transyt and Microsimulation. Including microsimulation APIs and scripting.
Since 2009 Ben has been an independent consultant as BR Hallworth Ltd specialising in UTC based solutions for traffic congestion and signal priority systems for buses and trams. Key projects are outlined below.
Ben was commissioned to build & demonstrate a POC 1Hz bus tracker unit to feed 1 second bus AVL updates over 4G to the Yorkshire Trigger System. This required modifying the backend software to match bus positions to a centrally held trigger file and judge when to generate a T031 message to the priority system. The POC successfully matched buses positions as a 10m radius and allows instant trigger file updates to be introduced.
The project aim is to use Vivacity detectors to feed into a traffic signal optimiser. Involves Vivacity detector data being brought back on the UTC comms into a database and an interface being deveoped to an external Optimiser software. Tasks include setting up network routing back to the UTC, database setup, data validation and interface development in Python and Visual Basic.
To supplement the existing infrequent physical tram loop detection on the network the tram AVL system was interfaced with the Yorkshire Trigger system to allow AVL trigger points to feed into the Sheffield UTMC priority system. The traffic signal priority at 7 key areas of the tram network are now being reviewed using these AVL detection points to deliver significant journey time savings.
Ben was commissioned by Sheffield UTC to improve identified hotspot sites on the Sheffield network. The aim was to look at each hotspot and identify ways of improving the network for any road user that may lose out disproportionately. This involved a variety of traffic engineering solutions. Typical aims included; • To improve or maintain priority to trams. • Reduce the impact of tram priority on other road users, in particular to buses. • To reduce delay to general traffic by providing linking through the network. • To maintain or improve the traffic congestion on adjacent junctions. • To reduce disruption caused by local tram priority to other traffic.
Extending the Yorkshire bus prirotiy delivery system to feed Doncaster UTC and the implementation of 3 SCOOT bus priority corridors.